


彼女の悲しみ

by Doctorbsmith



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:33:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29587980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doctorbsmith/pseuds/Doctorbsmith
Summary: I don't really know to be honest





	彼女の悲しみ

**Author's Note:**

> It may not be good, but to be honest it doesn't matter. Any recomendations regarding it are welcome, as long as it is constructive, and not just: "it's shit"

芹沢作田

To be honest I've never been a fan of the assigned seating chart.  
Not because I'm one of those guys that spends the whole class sleeping, or because I'm one of the popular kids that spend the whole class flirting or talking about hot girls (such a derogatory term).  
Don’t get me wrong I am by no means unadjusted, I just tend not to mix with the kind of people that seem to get off on insulting others, and watching their misfortune, but I digress.  
The reason I don’t like sitting charts is because they limit me to which people I can talk to for the reminder of the term.   
I’m the type of person that really enjoys talking to several people, making remarks about how the last class lagged longer than I would’ve liked, how I want to go somewhere after school today, things like that.   
Silly things like that get me through the day on a regular basis, but being confined to single sitting spot makes it seem like I like a particular person more than I do everyone else, which in more than one occasion have caused the people I talk to, to appear uncomfortable when I interact with them, and inconveniencing people around me is surprisingly enough not on my list of hobbies.  
It doesn’t happen all that often, but one case that was I honestly felt quite bummed about was the case of Akechi Sumire.   
To be honest if you had asked me before I met her if I would be surprised if she ended up falling within that category before I met her, when I was first assigned to sit next to her, would’ve said ‘Absolutely no.’, she definitely looked like the type to keep to herself (which wasn’t wrong).   
The thing is that when I started talking to her (yes you are free to yell at me for talking to someone I did not think would enjoy talking to me) I realized the amazing person she was.   
She was funny, smart, nice. I felt like she actually cared about the dumb remarks I made, like they were maybe not as pointless as I thought.   
I can’t really put my finger on how I felt talking to her, but I really, really enjoyed it, to the point to which I really looked forward to class more than break so that I could say hi to her, or hear what she’d been up to the previous day.   
Her laugh was one of the few things that could make my day automatically better just by hearing it, which is why I think it hit me so hard.   
One Thursday evening, after the break was over I started talking to her like I usually did, but I’ll never forget the look on her face as she stood up and said ‘I’m sorry Serizawa-kun but, could you… please not talk to me any more… please just leave me alone…’.   
Tears were falling down her cheeks, she looked really upset. The worst part to be honest was that I didn’t know what I’d done wrong so I couldn’t really fix it.   
After several failed attempts at trying to ask her what I’d done wrong, and what I could do to make it up to her I decided to ask my best friend Inami Naoya (Na-chan), who I honestly believe took all the wisdom that was to be shared with all the people who were born the same day as him (sadly including his reckless twin sister Sakura or as I called her Sa-chan).   
“It’s exhausting having to deal with all your problems on top of mine you know Saku.”  
The warm reprehension in his voice, exclusive to when he talked to Sa-chan and me was the reason I think so many girls in our school held Na-chan in such high esteem.   
I suppose the gap from the cold responses he gave everyone else was just that sought after.   
“Awwww, come on Na-chan, I need Akechi-san to talk to me again, she was the only thing that vitalized me enough to get through the day. I feel so sad when I see the look she gives me when I talk to her now.”  
He looked at me with the face a parent gives their child when they see they ate two cookies when they were only allowed one.  
Pure disappointment.  
“If you keep talking to and about her like that you’re going to cause her more trouble, you know. I bet she’s had a pretty hard time already considering how much you’ve talked to her.”  
To be honest I considered pretty mean that he thought that talking to me was that big of an inconvenience, but considering how often I was asking for his help I can’t say I’m surprised, though he could’ve still found a different way to phrase that.   
I decided to not mention that his comment had hurt me, since he probably didn’t mean to hurt me at all, just let me know.   
“Then what do you think I could do to be less of an inconvenience on her?”  
As I said that question I saw that look of disappointment on my friend’s face.   
“How is it possible for someone as dense as you to exist? I’ve known you for 12 years and it still amazes me.”  
After following his very out of place jab at me with a confused face he just waved his hand signaling that it wasn’t all that important anyway.   
I hate it when he does that,   
“To be honest Saku, I wish the the school environment wasn’t the way it is and that you could talk to whoever you wanted without issue, but the world isn’t that kind. I think that the best thing for this Akechi-san would be for you to not talk to her again.”  
I frowned.  
“Your advice is as confusing as always Na-chan…”  
I looked down, thinking if that was really the best thing I could do.   
“If she really hates me that that much, then I guess I have no choice but to accept it. I do have to admit though, I really wanted to talk to her more, at least a little.”  
Na-chan looked at me sadly, as if he knew how cool this girl he’d never met was.   
“Thanks for listening me again, Na-chan. It really means a lot that you always go out of your way to help me out.”  
He smiled, but his smile carried a bit of sadness to it, as if there was something else there.   
“Nah, trust me, I do almost nothing. If I could really help you, you’d be free to talk to this Akechi-san as much as you wanted.”  
I nodded.  
“I know, don’t worry. It’s not your fault that she hates me.”  
I heard Na-chan say something I couldn’t make out as I left to get back to class.

As I entered the class I was greeted by Yuzuriha Kyouka, Akutagawa Miou, and Tenkuji Nino’s voices. They appeared to be quite nice, since they greeted me whenever they saw me.   
They even gave me chocolate on valentines since they probably knew that I’d get none from anyone else other than Sa-chan.   
I said hi to them on my way to my seat.   
Akechi-san was already on her seat, and just before I defaulted to my usual happiness to see her and being able to talk to her, I remembered her face every time I tried to approach her since the day she told me not to.   
I refrained, and made due with a reserved smile and a small nod before I sat down next to her.   
To be honest it was killing me sitting next to her without being able to exchange a single word to her, it was like being stabbed constantly in the chest.   
I caught myself staring at her a number of times during the lesson, but I’m pretty sure I was able to stop myself before she noticed.   
I’m pretty sure I would’ve received at least one disgusted look from her in response.   
Her face did seem a little red during class though, I hope she doesn’t have a fever.   
Just as I was thinking that the teacher called on me for one of the questions on the blackboard.  
If the subjects we covered at school were at least mildly tough I would’ve been worried when I was called on, but to be honest it was almost laughable how easy the courses were, but the same could not be said for the question on the blackboard.   
Not because it was difficult, but i felt as if the nature of the question was wrong in itself.  
I felt a bit bad for the professors, since they probably didn’t even get to decide on the questions they could ask, the professor textbooks were quite explicit on what had to be asked of the students for each of the lessons.   
“What was the author feeling when he wrote the poem on page 7?”  
I looked at the poem on the textbook in order to see which one they were referring to.   
“It would be pretty pretentious of me to say i know the feelings of a person I’ve never met before. Much less state what he was feeling as he wrote the whole poem, which was probably not even during a single moment. I mean, remember that the poem’s choice of words and imagery left a pretty sad feeling within me, but starting with complete confidence that the author was feeling the exact same way as he wrote the poem, is to be honest impossible for me.”  
The professor looked quite pleased with what I said, which I didn’t get since I said i couldn’t answer his question, but to be honest i didn’t really care why the professors at school decided to give me high marks, since that just meant that I wouldn’t have to worry about taking make-up exams like Sa-chan did. 

The rest of the lessons flew by before I really noticed, just being awakened from my trance when Na-chan put his hand on top of my head to get my attention.   
I looked next to me to at least exchange a farewell nod and smile with Akechi-san before she left, but her desk was empty.   
“You know I do feel a bit offended that the first thing you do after I come and get you is look for someone else.”  
I looked up at Na-chan to apologize but, noticed that he had said it as a joke.   
I laughed in order to brush it off and have him not address it anymore.  
“Cheer up, you can just find someone else to talk to when we switch to a new seating chart in two weeks.”  
I always did that, but for some reason when I thought about someone other than Akechi-san sitting next to me, I felt bothered.   
As if no one else could sit in that spot but her.   
I laughed it off, but Na-chan had the amazing ability to notice when my laugh was not genuine.   
“You know, Sakura scored within the average for almost all her subjects. How about we get some pancakes on the way home to celebrate?”  
I smiled.   
I loved pancakes, and to be honest i could use some sugar to cheer me up right about now.   
“Thanks Na-chan.”  
He smiled back with his usual big-brotherly air that never failed to make me feel as if all my problems were not that big of a deal.   
“What are you talking about, this isn’t for you. It’s to congratulate Sakura.”  
I felt a bit bad for trying to take Sa-chan’s celebration from her, but it was very fortunate that she managed to accomplish something during the same time frame as my worries from my dwindling relationship with Akechi-san. 

“Naoya-nii, Saku-nii, you’re late!”  
The sweet, and just slightly childish sounding voice coming from the shoe lockers could only come from one person, Na-chan’s younger twin sister, Sakura.   
I’ve known both of them for around twelve years, since our houses were next to each other, and both of our parents worked pretty late.  
We’ve always been together since then, to be honest my life would be pretty boring without Na-chan, and Sa-chan.   
I smiled.   
“Sorry, sorry. Na-chan was telling me about how you managed to score within the average on most of your subjects. Congratulations Sa-chan!”  
The face she threw back at me was far from what I was expecting.   
It was a look of confusion.  
“What are you talking about? I fail…. Oh! Yeah! Of course, I did it! Hahahaha...”  
That was a pretty weird reaction.   
Na-chan quickly interrupted his sister’s fumbling.  
“Anyway, let’s go. Sakura, you wanted to go to the pancake place by the station to celebrate, right?”  
Sa-chan laughed weirdly, I’ve known her for a while, so I know that wasn’t her normal laugh.   
“Sa-chan, you know, we don’t have to go there if you don’t want to. It’s your celebration after all.”  
The way her eyes opened all wide like a surprise was very characteristic of her.   
Her brother was the cool type, whose emotions were a bit hard to detect if you didn’t know him well, but Sakura was the complete opposite.   
All of her thoughts and emotions were out in the open for everyone to see.   
“No no no no no, I would love to have some pancakes, yes yes. I love having pancakes in the evening.”  
She looked troubled, maybe the subject she didn’t manage to pass was weighing on her.   
Since I didn't really know how to help her, since she got mad at me every time I tried to tutor her (for no discernable reason), I thought that the best thing for her would be to eat some pancakes with us and calm down.   
“Don’t worry Sa-chan, today’s pancakes are on me! Yours too Na-chan!”  
My friends looked at me as if I hadn’t understood anything.   
“Fine, you can pay for Sakura’s, but at least let me pay for yours and mine.”  
He was always so nice.   
“Really?! Thanks!!! I’ll take you up on that!!”

For some reason Sa-chan and Na-chan walked behind me the whole way.   
They appeared to talking about something, maybe something was bothering her.   
I wish there was something I could do to help her, but I’m buying her pancakes, which should at least help soften the blow of whatever’s happening.   
We arrived at our destination, but there was a line of about 7 people in front of the store, so Sa-chan suggested that we looked around the shopping center whilst we waited for the line to die down.   
Since we weren’t really in any hurry to head home we accepted and headed to the arcade.   
It may seem a bit mean to take a girl to the arcade with two guys, but Sakura was the person that liked that place the most out of all of us.   
Once inside she became a game monster.   
Since she bought the Nesica card a few years back she’s been in love with groove coaster machine.   
Looking at her play is like looking at a professional playing some kind of complicated foreign instrument.   
It’s like an art.   
You know when you walk into an arcade and there this highschool student absolutely dominating a machine for hours on end?  
Here that person is Sakura.   
As expected her brother didn’t lag behind, but instead of some traditional rhythm game his specialty was the crane game.   
I’ve heard from some people online that crane games in America tend to be useless, but here it’s a game of pure skill.   
Na-chan’s house if filled with the figurines and plushies he’s won in those kinds of games and refuses to throw out.   
I’ve never had a game I’m particularly good at, but I love Wacca.   
I started playing casually, but it drew me in pretty quickly since I always come here with Sa-chan when Na-chan is working downstairs. 

We stayed in the arcade a little more than we expected, and by a little I mean we were there for three hours….  
When Na-chan finally came to rescue me he had like thirty plushies on him.   
“The staff said I couldn’t play anymore… can we go?”  
I laughed.   
Even though it wasn’t the first time the staff had asked him to stop playing since he was cleaning the crane games, it still made me laugh every time.   
“Sure, let’s go get Sa-chan.”  
We walked to the end of the hall to see a group of like five people standing in awe looking at Sakura play.   
I tapped her shoulder.   
“Hey Sa-chan, let’s go. If we stay here too long we won’t make it to the pancake place”  
She looked like it was the end of the world.   
“But… but, i haven’t finished the level. I promise it’s the last one, let me finish!”  
She really is like a child sometimes.   
I looked at Na-chan for support, and he nodded, meaning we could wait for her to finish the song before we left.   
I never got tired of watching her play.   
The gameplay was one thing, but the look of enjoyment she had all throughout was in my opinion the best part.  
Akechi-san’s smile flashed in my mind.   
“I wonder what she’s doing right now…”  
Just as those words escaped my mouth, I felt a hand on my shoulder.   
“Don’t worry, just a few minutes until we can get pancakes.”  
I wonder how he does that.   
It’s like he knows when something’s on my mind without me saying anything.   
I giggled.   
“You’re right, this is just the first part of Sa-chan’s celebration party.”  
It was Na-chan’s turn to smile.   
“Yeah.”  
Just as he finished saying that Sakura came out of the small group of people with a victorious look on her face.   
“I’d been trying to finish that song for a while now. Sorry for the wait. Now Naoya-nii, Saku-nii, it’s time for my celebratory pancakes!!”  
Her excitement somehow had the ability to rub off on me, so I cheer in tandem with her. 

When we got to the pancake place, unsurprisingly the line had died down a long time ago, so we were able to get seats almost as soon as we got there.   
“So Sa-chan, which one of the test was the one you couldn’t get the average on? I know you always turn me down, but I could tutor you, you know. The subjects are quite simple to understand after all.”  
Since we were here because of her exams, I thought I’d ask a bit so that I could help her out.   
“Ah…. ehm… Saku-nii, don’t take this the wrong way, but you suck at tutoring. Every time you’ve tried to help me in the past I’ve just ended up more confused than I was at the beginning. And… don’t worry about my exams, I’ll handle them. Shizuku said she’d help me out.”  
“Ehhh~ but I want to help you Sa-chan…”  
She just laughed as if I’d said some really corny joke.   
“No way, Shizuku’s scores are pretty good, so you don’t have to worry about it.”  
I moaned in protest, but agreed since I know Kurusu-san’s scores are pretty good.   
She’s always right below me in the school’s ranking.   
For some reason she seems to really dislike me.  
Whenever we talk she yells and says things like ‘I won’t lose next time’ or ‘Just wait Serizawa-san! Next time will be my win’.   
I wonder what she’s talking about.   
After a bit of idle conversation about how boring our classes were, with a bit of a scolding from Na-chan we ordered our pancakes.   
I went with the classic.   
It’s simple, and not too much, plus I won’t have to exercise too much more than normal once I get home.   
Na-chan went with chocolate chips and ice cream, and Sakura went with coffee flavour topped with coffee whipped cream. 

After just a little bit of waiting our orders arrived, and what I was waiting for happened.   
The waitress began speaking.   
“Sorry for the wait, here we have classic pancakes, ...”  
She put them in front of me.   
“...coffee with coffee cream, …”  
She put them in front of Na-chan.   
“...and chocolate chips with ice cream...”  
She put them in front of Sa-chan.   
“Please enjoy your meal”  
As she left I couldn’t help but laugh when Sa-chan and Na-chan switched plates.   
“How is it that this always happens”  
Na-chan’s face was a bit frustrated as she spoke those lines.   
“I know!!! It happens no matter where we go!!!”  
Sa-chan was a bit too bothered by it.   
“Come on, it just looks like the orders should be reversed.”  
To be honest I don’t know why it was so funny to me.   
The dissonance between their personalities and orders were just so amusing to me.   
“What are you talking about?”   
They both voiced the same question in unison, as if to prove to whoever didn’t previously believe that they were really twins due to their physical differences, that they actually were.   
“Don’t worry about it”  
I spoke the line normally used by Na-chan towards me in my best impression of him.  
The irony of it wasn’t lost to either of them, and they smiled.   
That was Sa-chan’s real smile, I hope she managed to get away from what had been bothering her today.   
We ate our pancakes together whilst Sa-chan asked questions about the assignments we had for the next day.   
I gave up after trying to explain it to her five times with her just looking at me all confused as if I was saying something complicated to her.   
It’s just simple algebraic geometry!  
I wonder if she’s just messing with us because she doesn't want to do her homework.   
Once Na-chan took over me and started explaining the assignment as if he were talking to a three year old with a learning disability, she probably decided to stop pretending and just said she understood. 

As soon as we finished we decided to head home so that the people at the store would stop staring at us in an attempt to get us to finally go home after four hours of bing in the booth without ordering anything else.   
I said goodbye to my friends and walked into my house.  
Empty as always.   
I’d managed to not let it bother me, since it’d been this way forever.   
As soon as I had to say goodbye to Sa-chan and Na-chan, I was by myself again.   
I walked down the hall as soon as I took my shoes off to head to the bathroom.   
After such a long day, I kind of needed a bath.   
I showered and after drying my hair I entered the bath and put my headphones on.   
“Ahh~ this is the feeling.”  
Just when the music started playing I got an alert on my phone.   
It wasn’t a number I knew so I opened it and read the message. 

I felt like my heart was about to explode.   
“Akechi-san!!!! She’s talking to me!!”  
I kept reading, already very happy.   
_  
Class four, that’s Naoya’s class.  
I wonder why he didn’t mention it. _

_“I wonder what that’s all about.”  
All I could think was Akechi telling me she could not talk to me anymore because she had a very possessive boyfriend.   
I don’t think I could win in a fight against him if he ended up being a member of one of the sport clubs.   
Not that I would like to fight, I didn’t really like that sort of thing.   
For some reason I didn’t like the idea of Akechi-san having a boyfriend.   
I felt kind of upset that I wouldn’t be able to talk to Akechi-san anymore.   
I felt upset because of the thought that Akechi-san’s boyfriend was a member of one of the sport clubs.   
It was probably Haruki from class five.   
I’ve seen them talking before, and he’s quite popular.   
I wonder if he treats her well.   
I don’t think I have a problem if he’s nice to her.   
I responded to her text. _

_There was a lot more that I wanted to write on that text, but I knew she would likely not like being flooded with texts from me._

_I got out of the bath, and after getting dressed, went to bed._

_有休直也_

_Math.  
I’m not a bad student.  
I’m above average in all of my subjects, but that doesn’t mean I have to like all of them.   
Math was one of the ones I liked the least.   
It feels as if the numbers on the board are mocking me whenever I glance up.   
Worst of all I sit in front during this class, so whenever the professor is in a ‘questiony’ mood it means I’m out of luck, it doesn't even matter if it isn’t the 20th.  
Today is one of those days.   
“Let’s see… Inami-san, please come to the board and solve this problem.”  
I knew it.   
I sighed as i got up from my chair and made my way to the blackboard, as if trying to convey the message that I didn’t want to do this to my professor.   
He didn’t get the message, so I just quickly solved the problem and sat back down.   
The problem itself wasn’t difficult at all, I just didn’t like being called to the front.   
It was like flashing a spotlight at me, and because I had an exceptionally attractive best friend, I’d grown accustomed to the shade that protected me if I stood next to him.   
It was like a super power, as long as I was next to him no one would even look at me.   
I know that from that I sound like a friendless loner, but that was very far from the case.   
I just don’t enjoy being the center of attention, that role fit Sakuta a lot better than me.   
Plus you can tell a lot more from the sidelines, it’s like people show their real thoughts and feelings as soon as they think no one is looking.   
Not to mention the fact that people that stand out tend to have a lot of problems.   
My best friend, Serizawa Sakuta was a prime example of that.   
Being super attractive meant that there were a lot of people that felt intimidated by him and never approached him, a lot who felt threatened and bad-mouthed him behind his back, and a lot who liked him so much that they threatened whoever got close to him.   
Those last two groups in particular were very important in regards to Sakuta.   
The trio of Yuzuriha Kyouka, Akutagawa Miou, and Tenkuji Nino was the most fearsome fanclub I’ve ever seen.   
They were so obsessed with Sakuta that they violently chased whoever got close to him without exceptions.   
My twin sister Sakura was once attacked by them whilst on brake.   
She told me they threw her against the wall and made her swear that she would never go near Sakuta ever again, and she doesn’t even have any romantic feeling for him.   
I only managed to get them to back off once I stepped in and told them that I would be the one they’d have to deal with if it ever happened again.   
I was going to tell Sakuta about it, but Sakura told me not to.   
I guess we both know he would blame himself if he ever found out.   
I haven’t seen them act since then, which is helps me settle down a bit, since Sakuta has been getting along pretty well with a girl called Akechi Sumire.   
He’s definitely fallen for her.   
You can tell by the look in his eyes whenever he talks about her, and he talks about her all the time.   
I’ve never seen him make that face before.   
I need to make sure it goes well, I need to protect Sakuta.   
When we were little Sakuta was the one who always helped me with everything, and since he’s a little older than me I’ve always seen him as a kind of older brother.   
The thing is that recently I’ve noticed that he tends to take on a lot more than he can.   
He thinks that since he’s the older one, he needs to take on everything by himself.   
That’s why I promised myself that I’ll do whatever it takes to help him out at least a little bit.   
As I was lost in thought the bell rang, so I left the classroom.  
I checked the outside the classroom to see the test scores.   
Just before I found my name someone bumped into me.   
I looked down and saw a girl, she was crying so much that her glasses had fogged up and couldn’t see well.   
It was Akechi Sumire.   
It was a bit hard to tell through her tights, but her legs were covered in bruises, as if she’d been thrown around.   
This wasn’t good, those three were probably involved.   
Her voice was low, and since she’d been crying it was a bit raspy, but I could tell it was quite the cute voice.  
“I… I… I’m sorry, I wasn’t... looking... where I was... going.”  
She looked like she was struggling to breathe and talk at the same time, because of how heavily she was crying.   
I tried to speak in the most calming voice I could muster.   
“Don’t worry about it, it’s my fault too for not being aware of my surroundings.”  
She ran away after bowing one last time.   
‘So this is the girl that charmed Saku.’  
I decided not to voice that thought.  
I went back to the ranking.   
20th.   
That pretty good, I’m satisfied with it.   
I’m not the type to get competitive with this sort of thing, so as long as I pass I’m okay no matter what placing I get.   
That being said, it’s not as if I’ll just give up, I still study quite regularly.   
Our school is a pretty high ranking one, so if I don’t study I’ll end up like Sakura.   
Speaking of her I looked for her name in the ranking, and…  
I sighed.   
How can she be so carefree with these grades, she failed everything except for english and modern japanese.   
I looked up and saw Sakuta at number one, as expected, followed by his self-appointed rival Kurusu Shizuku.   
“You looked happy. Did you get a good score?”  
The owner of that voice was the captain of the baseball club, Souma Haruki.   
He looked around the list and looked at me in high spirits.   
“Oooh 20th, amazing as always Naoya-kun”  
“Thanks, but.. no, never mind. You just have to study if you want a high score too, you know. You already bothered enrolling here after all.”  
He looked at me as if I’d said some sort of joke.   
“Come on, I’m only here because of the baseball team. I’m not smart like Sakuta-kun and you.”  
I knew it was no use arguing with him about it, so I just decided to accept defeat and leave him be, but just before I managed to say anything I heard a voice behind me.   
“Na-chan!!”   
Because of the way he called me I knew it could only be one person.   
“Yo, Saku, what’s up?”  
I decided to keep the fact that I’d run into Akechi (well, she ran into me) to myself.  
“I have something to ask you… would you listen?”  
Haruki read the mood and walked away, though Sakuta didn’t seem to have noticed he was there in the first place.   
“Yeah, of course. What’s up?”  
I pretended that I had no idea his troubles regarded Akechi.  
Though what he said surprised me quite a lot.   
“You see, Akechi-san said she didn’t want to talk to me anymore, and since then she hasn’t spoken a word to me.”  
I felt a bit offended that he had waited so long before coming to me for advice, but decided that there were more important things to worry about right now.   
I hid my worries so that I wouldn’t transfer them over to Sakuta, he was probably worried enough as is.  
I made a cold remark about him adding his problems on top of mine, even though we both knew I had no important problems and that I owed him ten times more than I could ever repay him.   
The cause of the problem became clear in my mind once I heard him speak.  
“Awwww, come on Na-chan, I need Akechi-san to talk to me again, she was the only thing that vitalized me enough to get through the day. I feel so sad when I see the look she gives me when I talk to her now.”  
If he speaks like that about her all the time, and if he lets through how much he evidently likes this girl when he’s in class, then those girls definitely have identified Akechi as a threat.   
I was probably right when I saw her bruises.   
“If you keep talking to and about her like that you’re going to cause her more trouble, you know. I bet she’s had a pretty hard time already considering how much you’ve talked to her.”  
I know it’s a pretty mean way to put it, but he should definitely be made aware of the fact that the girl is in literal danger by being with him.   
Those girls will not back down, but I can’t tell him that it’s because of him, if i do he’ll think it’s his fault Akechi is suffering.   
This world is really not fair.   
I heard my best friend say something that hurt, I had hoped he wouldn’t misunderstand, but he had an innate talent for that, and that line proved it.  
“Then what do you think I could do to be less of an inconvenience on her?”  
I couldn’t say anything for a moment.   
“How is it possible for someone as dense as you to exist? I’ve known you for 12 years and it still amazes me.”  
I realized that line had escaped my lips.   
Crap.   
Luckily Sakuta just looked a bit confused, not hurt.   
I waved my hand so that we could move on from that comment as soon as possible, I wanted to help him, not make him feel worse.   
“To be honest Saku, I wish the the school environment wasn’t the way it is and that you could talk to whoever you wanted without issue, but the world isn’t that kind. I think that the best thing for this Akechi-san would be for you to not talk to her again.”  
I voiced my honest opinion.   
My biggest wish was that Sakuta could find happiness with this girl, I could tell her really liked her, even if he couldn’t yet.   
I want him to be happy, he’s been through enough.   
He frowned whilst telling me that he hadn’t really gotten what I meant.   
It’s fine I’ll make it so that the situation can change, I just need a bit more time.   
I need to speak with Akechi.   
Sakuta spoke, head down.   
“If she really hates me that that much, then I guess I have no choice but to accept it. I do have to admit though, I really wanted to talk to her more, at least a little.”  
Honestly, how has he not realized he likes this girl.  
“Thanks for listening me again, Na-chan. It really means a lot that you always go out of your way to help me out.”  
There is literally not a single cell in my body that would rather not help him.   
I’ll do whatever it takes to protect him, not just because I owe him, but because he is my best friend in the entire world.  
“Nah, trust me, I do almost nothing. If I could really help you, you’d be free to talk to this Akechi-san as much as you wanted.”  
He nodded.  
“I know, don’t worry. It’s not your fault that she hates me.”  
“She doesn’t hate you dummy. It’s very likely she wants to talk to you too.”  
I said this in a voice so low that wasn’t even sure I’d said it at all.   
He was already on his way to the classroom, so he probably didn’t hear me.   
It’s okay he’ll see once I’ve properly handled the situation. _

_Once I’d made my way back to class I decided to start thinking about how I’d approach the situation.  
Since Akechi would probably be opposed to speaking to Sakuta in public, I need to find a different way to get them to talk without anyone noticing.   
Would a storage room be a good option?   
No, if anyone saw them walking out of the storage room they would be in an even worse situation, so I’d like to avoid putting them in that sort of situation, especially considering that Akechi has likely already been hurt by those three.   
Maybe the phone would work?  
I could tell her to explain the situation to him at least partially via text, they could even set a meeting place outside of school to avoid being spotted by the others.   
Yeah that would be the safest option.   
Wait.   
Does Akechi even have Saku’s contact info?  
Sadly he’s extremely passive, meaning he probably hasn’t made a move in regards to that, and considering the impression I get from Akechi it’s unlikely she would’ve asked for his ID first.   
If she doesn’t have line in the first place my plan wouldn’t work.   
No no, I’m overthinking this, if she doesn’t have his info I just have to give it to her.   
Yeah, that should work, but I need to cheer up Sakuta, he’s probably agonizing over not being able to talk to her even now, so he’s likely do decline if I say I want to take him somewhere to cheer him up he’ll decline and say he’s fine.   
How can I avoid him declining, and avoid Akechi contacting him whilst I’m trying to get him out of a negative mindset.   
The more positive he feels the more likely he is to accept her invitation.   
I could lie to him and say that the reason we’re going out if to celebrate something like exam scores, but he doesn’t care about his own scores, he knows that I don’t care much for my own, and Sakura failed basically all of them.   
However, since he doesn’t care about the score chart, he’s unlikely to check it himself, so if I tell him that we’re going to celebrate Sakura getting into the top ten, he’s likely to accept the invitation.   
No, that’s too unbelievable, even if he managed to believe that, he’d probably want to take a picture of the ranking since it would be quite the miraculous event.   
I could just say that she managed to pass all her tests, but I’m not confident he’d fall for that either.   
She’s not very good at studying.   
I’ll just tell him that she passed everything but math, he knows she’s not good at math, so he’s likely to believe that.   
I need to find Akechi first and set the plan in motion, to be honest I feel pretty confident that this is going to work. _

_I went over to Saku’s classroom as soon as the lessons were over hoping to be able to catch Akechi separately first so that I could tell her to contact him and how to properly talk to him without being discovered by Sakuta’s fanclub.  
Luckily just as I was walking through the door I saw Akechi leaving, she seemed to be in a rush to leave so I called out to her in a low volume in order to avoid getting anyone else’s attention.   
“Hey, you’re Akechi Sumire, right,? Come with me for a moment.”  
She looked at me with a face the just screamed ‘Please leave me alone’.   
Jesus this girl has probably been subjected to a lot these last couple of months.   
“Don’t worry I just want to talk to you.”  
She resigned herself to whatever I was gonna do to her and just silently nodded before following me outside the classroom.   
“Here, this is Saku’s Line.”  
She looked at me with big confused eyes, they kind of reminded me of Sakuta’s a little.  
“Don’t worry I’m not gonna try to hurt you or anything. Just don’t contact him until you get a text from me, okay?”  
She nodded and left in a hurry, she looked happy to get the number, so at least now I know that I was right in thinking that at the very least she didn’t hate Sakuta.   
It was quite impressive how she lasted the whole exchange without uttering a single word.   
Maybe Sakuta really likes the quiet types.   
That means that part of today’s objective is accomplished, all that’s left is taking Sakuta to the pancake place he’s wanted to go to for a while now next to the station.  
As I walked to my best friend’s seat, I noticed he was just staring out the window without saying anything, completely lost in thought so I pressed the Saku-reset button, his head.   
He looked at me with confused eyes, as if I was the first person he’d seen in years, and he didn’t know how to react.   
As soon as he properly became conscious, he quickly looked to the seat next to his, likely looking to see if Akechi was still sitting there, surprisingly enough for him she wasn’t.   
I cracked a joke, acting as if I didn’t know what he was thinking desperately looking around the classroom.   
“You know I do feel a bit offended that the first thing you do after I come and get you is look for someone else.”  
He laughed uncomfortably, as if to tell me that he knows the motive behind my words.   
“Cheer up, you can just find someone else to talk to when we switch to a new seating chart in two weeks.”  
To be honest I didn’t mean that at all, I’ve never seen Sakuta become so interested in a person before, so I want it to go well for them, I just need him to be as unaware as possible in regards to my involvement.   
He looked bothered by my comment, but laughed it off, as if trying to hide it.   
We both knew that he could not hide how he felt from me, we’ve known each other for way too long for him to be able to do that.   
To be completely honest I doubt something as trivial as pancakes would be enough to cheer him up right now, but to be honest for now I want him to know that he can rely on me if he needs to.   
“You know, Sakura scored within the average for almost all her subjects. How about we get some pancakes on the way home to celebrate?”  
He smiled.   
At least that means that he wouldn’t dislike spending some time with us.   
I’ll take it as a win, when he’s too upset, he tends to avoid me until he calms down.   
I wish he would let me help him a bit more.   
“Thanks Na-chan.”  
We’ve known each other for way too long, none of the other’s schemes probably has any effect anymore, but that doesn’t mean that I’m just going to tell him straight out, I’m kind of worried he’ll feel indebted to me if I tell him I’m doing just for him.  
“What are you talking about, this isn’t for you. It’s to congratulate Sakura.”  
He nodded, as if to tell me ‘But I still have the right to enjoy it’.   
He really is my best friend. _

_As we approached the shoe lockers, we heard the voice that made me remember that there was an important part of the plan I forgot to execute.  
“Naoya-nii, Saku, you’re late!”  
I forgot to tell Sakura about it…   
If she blows it, all my planing would’ve been for nothing.   
“Sorry, sorry. Na-chan was telling me about how you managed to score within the average on most of your subjects. Congratulations Sa-chan!”  
She looked back at us with a confused look on her face, which was a problem, since she was almost as easy to read as Sakuta was.   
“What are you talking about? I fail….”  
I threw her a pleading look, telling her to just go along with it for now.   
Luckily enough she probably felt my desperation and agreed in a split second.   
Being twins has its perks.   
“...oh! Yeah! Of course, I did it! Hahahaha...”  
She sucks at acting, if it was literally anyone other than Sakuta who we’re talking to, this would’ve been an utter failure.   
I interrupted her before her fumbling, and awkward laughing went too far.   
“Anyway, let’s go. Sakura, you wanted to go to the pancake place by the station to celebrate, right?”  
She laughed weirdly, it was way too high pitched, like the laugh she would through whenever she laughed at a joke she didn’t really find funny with her friends.   
Sakuta probably picked up on her being weird, he looked at her uneasily.   
“Sa-chan, you know, we don’t have to go there if you don’t want to. It’s your celebration after all.”  
I shot her a look so she would put herself together.   
The way her eyes opened all wide like a surprise was very characteristic of her, it was almost painful how obvious it was, I wouldn’t be surprised if even Sakuta noticed.   
“No no no no no, I would love to have some pancakes, yes yes. I love having pancakes in the evening.”  
I made a mental note to take Sakura for acting lessons, if we ever need to do something like this again we needed to go better than this.   
“Don’t worry Sa-chan, today’s pancakes are on me! Yours too Na-chan!”  
Sakuta shot that line out of nowhere, probably gathering that the reason Sakura was being weird was because she was worried about money.   
I’m lucky he’s so dense.   
“Fine, you can pay for Sakura’s, but at least let me pay for yours and mine.”  
At my proposal his eyes beamed, since Sakura was set free from her economic burden, and he didn’t have to use his money for an unplanned event.   
“Really?! Thanks!!! I’ll take you up on that!!”_

_On the way to the shop Sakura pulled me behind Sakuta and started talking to me in a low voice.  
“Don’t do things like that! You know I’m terrible when you put me on the spot! You owe me for this!”  
Sakuta didn’t seem to notice so I thought I’d just explain the situation on the way.   
“I’ll make it up to you, I promise. Sakuta’s having a pretty rough time, but you know he won’t rely on us, so I needed a way to get him on board.”  
She knew Sakuta as well as I did, so she knew this kind of thing was necessary if we wanted to do something for me.   
After a few seconds of staring at me with her cheeks puffed into a pout, she seemed to convince herself that i was right.  
“Just let me know next time, I totally freaked out when I saw your face! You know I need at the very least a text before we do something like that. I would prefer if we went through the plan the day before, but I can make due with a text”  
I smiled.   
“I promise, I promise. I had a lot to get ready in a very short period of time so it slipped my mind that I had to tell you about it.”  
She pulled her tongue at me in her own personal way, telling me it was fine.   
Sakuta stopped in front of us, so we stopped with him.   
I looked ahead and noticed we’d reached our destination, there was just one problem.   
There was a line of about 7 people outside the store, and since the store was pretty small that meant a pretty long wait.   
Since I wasn’t really in a time limit as long as Akechi went to bed some time before 21:30, we asked Sakura what she’d like to do whilst we waited, though the question itself was kind of pointless.   
The three of us knew what we were going to do at the station shopping center whenever we had such a long time to kill: Head to the arcade.   
Since I got Sakura a Nesica card this place became our nest.   
Going home was pretty much pointless for the three of us, so coming to the arcade to kill some time, was something we did pretty often.  
As soon as we stepped there Sakura dashed over to the Groove Coaster machine, like a predator on his way to it’s first meal in a couple of days.  
She was a monster on that machine, I’ve only seen her play, since I don’t personally like rhythm games, but it was really a sight to behold.   
Since this particular arcade had only a single Groove Coaster machine Sakuta, who is also a fan of rhythm games found himself quite taken with the Wacca machine, and trust me when I say that he’s amazing at it.   
Since he refuses to wear gloves it’s a miracle how he doesn’t burn his hands with all the movements the game (which heats up quite a bit) requires.   
I prefer less “flashy” games, and those that give me more of a direct reward, so I spend most of the time we have in the crane machines.   
The prizes available tend to be pretty good, and if you know what you’re doing getting them is pretty easy.   
There is just a slight problem I have with them, and it’s the fact that since I get the prize quickly I always end up with a lot of them, and since i paid money to get them I don’t really want to get rid of them, so my room is filled with them. _

_I was in pretty deep thought, in regards to what I would do after Akechi texted Sakuta, but I suddenly interrupted by one of the staff members.  
“Um, excuse me sir, but we need you to stop using the crane machine, since this is an independently owned game center we have a limit of prices per person, and you have gone over it by quite a bit. We have plenty of other things to try if you’d like.”  
I hate it when this happens, it means we have to leave now.   
The employee looked pretty nervous, which told me that people were normally mean to him during this sort of exchange, so I just nodded and went deeper in to find Sakuta, and my sister.   
Sakuta was in quite a trance when I found him, so I tapped his shoulder with my head to get his attention, since I didn’t have any free hands due to the plushies I was carrying.   
When I told him I couldn’t play anymore, he looked at me with a ‘Again?’ face, and laughed.   
He then nodded and we went to get Sakura.   
As expected a little bit of a crowd had formed around my sister, all pretty mesmerized at her skills at the game.   
She’s finished almost all the levels at the highest available difficulty, which is pretty impressive, it almost made me want to play the game, almost.   
After she managed to finish one of the last ones she was missing with a personal best, we walked towards the shop.   
Obviously the line had died down in the time that we were down there, though I don’t really know how long we’d been there.   
After we ordered and Sakura and my orders were mixed up again, and Sakuta made that joke neither my sister or i understood, the evening went by pretty uneventfully whilst we ate and worked on our homework. _

_When we got home after splitting up with Sakuta, Sakura looked at me mischievously.  
“I already know how you’re going to pay me back of today.”  
I looked at her, thinking about all the horrible and tedious this she could ask me to do.   
“Please go easy on me.”  
She laughed smugly, before going back to her regular childish smile.   
“Don’t worry, I just want you to make me my favourite for dinner today.”  
I looked at her in disbelief.   
“That’s it?”  
She nodded.  
“I know you did it for Sakuta, so it’s fine. I’m gonna take a bath, so get dinner ready.”  
I nodded. _

_Just before I started zoning out to the cooking process I remembered something important I had yet to do.  
I took out my phone and texted Akechi. _

_She replied almost instantly._

_She definitely likes him back.  
I went back to cooking. _

_明智すみれ_

_When I was in middle school I started liking someone for the first time.  
There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary in regards to that feeling, it’s that sort of thing you hear and think: ‘Oh yeah, she was around that age, it’s to be expected.’  
The problem was, or rather continues to be, my personality.   
I have no issues in regards to having a normal conversation, even if the person I am speaking to happens to be the object of my affections.   
The issue is that I cannot initiate the conversation, since my interests happen to be very uncommon, and are therefore not shared by anyone around me, I have no idea what sort of conversation topics the other party would enjoy, so I find myself freezing at the thought of them coming to hate me.   
Due to the fact that I am by no means the kind of girl guys would call ‘attractive’, it’s not like there would be any way that my looks could compensate for my lack of social skills.   
Needless to say, my specs where very deficient, to the point to which all the other girls felt the need to actively attack me whenever I was by myself, and warned me to stay away from the guy I liked, despite me obviously not being a threat.   
I never got the opportunity nor the courage to move against them and talk to him.   
It was probably the right move.   
In order to move past everything, I didn’t attend the high school affiliated with my middle school, that way they wouldn’t find me anymore, that way I’d be safe.  
I thought I’d left everything behind me after my first year of high school came and went without anything to be noted, but when I entered the classroom and went over to my seat I realized I had been seated next to the most handsome person I’ve ever seen.   
‘As long as we don’t talk the people won’t be mean to me again’, with that thought as my shield I went through the underwhelming time of a single period without an interaction with him. _

_“Akechi-san, right? I’m Serizawa Sakuta, looks like we’ll be seated together this term, so please treat me well.”  
He said that with such a kind smile, that I just unconsciously nodded without being able to reply in any way.   
I never expected he would go and talk to me like that, it really surprised me.   
As long as I keep our interactions to a minimum I’ll probably be fine, i doubt the girls in this class are as mean as the ones in my middle school anyway.   
With that thought with me I continued to casually interact with Serizawa-kun whenever he came into the classroom, and whenever he left or when we changed periods.   
As those interactions continued I started to get a little greedy, I wanted to talk to him more, I wanted to see him more, I wanted to be next to him more.   
Whenever he talked about something he liked, he would get very excited, and would make tons of hand motions as if to make known how important it was.   
He didn’t do that kind of thing at first, but as time went on he started to get a bit more comfortable, it made me feel special, as if I was the only one he would act this way with.   
I know I’m wrong, he has tons of other people he gets along with, and they probably see this side of him a lot more often than me, but seeing it felt like such a big privilege that I didn’t really care if they did.   
Whenever he asked about me, we would listen so intently, even though I normally said nothing of consequence.   
He made me feel as if I were important, as if I mattered.   
I looked forward to whenever I had the possibility to talk with him.   
I think I like him. _

_“See you after break Akechi-san.”  
Serizawa-kun said this line with such a radiant smile on his face I couldn’t really come up with a reply other that ‘Agh...a...’  
He seemed to get the message and waved as he left, that mesmerizing smile still on his face.   
As if it were some sort of triggered event in a game three girls from the back of the classroom got up and started walking.   
I wasn’t really interested in what they were up to so I just took my book from my bag and started reading.   
“HEY!! ARE YOU IGNORING ME?!?!”  
One of the girls was looking at me rather angrily, so I assumed I had done something to upset her, the other two glaring at me from behind her.   
I unconsciously lowered my head in an apology, despite the fact that I had absolutely no idea what I was being apologetic about or whom to.   
Apparently that wasn’t the right move because she looked a lot more angry when I lifted my head.   
Because I didn’t know her I couldn’t muster the courage to talk to her, so I just stared at her in despair over the fact that my tactic of apologising and hoping for her to disappear didn’t work.   
“STAY AWAY FROM OUR SAKUTA, BITCH!!!!”  
I finally understood what was going on, I had misunderstood in thinking that Serizawa-kun’s girlfriend was that pretty girl Sakura with whom he always went home.   
Wait, something still didn’t add up, why did she say ‘our’ and not ‘my’?  
Is Serizawa-kun going out with all of them simultaneously?  
No, that didn’t make any sense, he wasn’t the sort of person to do that, plus if that were the case, the girls would probably no be okay with it after finding out.   
Before I had the chance to continue with my line of thought, the first girl’s loud voice brought me back to reality.   
“SOMEONE LIKE YOU ISN’T WORTHY OF BEING WITH SOMEONE LIKE OUR SAKUTA, STAY AWAY FROM HIM, OR ELSE!”  
The surprise from that comment managed to overpower my inability to speak and I unconsciously said what I was thinking:  
“Eh? No, I know that already… I just want to be friends with him.”  
For some reason the comment seemed to make girl one furious.   
“YOU THINK YOU’RE FUNNY? IF I EVER SEE YOU TALKING TO HIM AGAIN I’LL MAKE YOU REGRET IT!!”  
They stomped away.   
This exchange made feel very conflicted, part of me said: ‘That’s very dangerous, you should probably avoid him from now on, it’s not like he enjoys your presence anyway, he just talks to you because you’re seated together, he wouldn’t mind if you were suddenly replaced by literally anyone else.’, but I really liked him, and despite the fact that I knew we would never be as close as I wanted, I didn’t really want him to stop talking.   
I steeled my resolve and decided I would continue to talk with Serizawa-kun.   
I went to the bathroom before the start of the lesson in order to calm myself down, since even though I hadn’t noticed at the time my heart was beating way too fast, to the point to which I felt a bit dizzy upon getting up.   
I washed my face, but when I looked in the mirror, all my hard work at calming down was nullified.   
Standing behind me was Girl Number One.   
I looked at the exit for a means of escape, but Girls Two, and Three were blocking it.   
I felt my heart sink the moment Girl One started talking.   
“You know, you left me in a pretty bad mood back there, I think I’ll make your warning more clear to you while I let some steam out.”  
The fact that she said that line in a calm voice instead of the screams I’d previously heard somehow made it all the more terrifying.   
I had nowhere to run.   
She started walking slowly at me, as if to threatening me into forgetting about running away.   
It was working, my legs felt like they were made of jelly, I couldn’t stand anymore.   
Seemingly less than a second after I hit the floor Girl One grabbed me by the collar and repeatedly pushed me into the wall with what must have been all her strength.   
She’s a lot stronger than she looks.   
She kept going for quite the while, making me lose all the strength to resist.   
Once she had her fill, she dropped me back onto the floor, and said in the quiet and restrained voice she’d used earlier:  
“I hope that is enough of a lesson to keep your filthy hands away from our Sakuta.   
I couldn’t say anything back. _

_I walked to the classroom in a daze, even if you asked me I don’t think I could confidently answer whether the walk took either one million years or a split second.  
Who did I think I was?   
When did it occur to me that I had the right to fall for someone like Serizawa-kun?  
Ah, I’m so tired.   
When I finally stood in front of the classroom door the array of possible scenarios ran through my head.   
I could go in without saying anything and just sit down, but then Serizawa-kun would probably try to talk to me.   
If I told Serizawa-kun not to talk to me anymore before the start of the class, he would probably start asking questions, none of which I can answer.   
The only way for me to be able to get into the class without having to talk to him is to act like I’m focusing on something else.   
I saw something on the ground.  
Water?  
I checked my bag to see if maybe it had gotten wet when I was thrown in the bathroom.   
It was dry.   
Only after a moment I noticed the source of the water that was insistently falling to the hallway floor.   
They were tears, my tears.   
I won’t ever be able to talk to Serizawa-kun, he’ll forget all about my existence and that smiling face won’t be mine anymore.   
We were going to separated next term anyway, it’s not like I thought I could still talk to him once the seating chart changed.   
I waited for the tears on my face to dry, grabbed a book from my bag, and walked into the classroom with it shielding my face, in my best attempt to hide both the fact that I’d been crying, and my thoughts on what I had to tell Serizawa-kun after class.   
As I entered walked past the blackboard I could her the three girls laughing, it was like they could feel my unpleasant emotions and were feeding off them.   
High school really is no different from middle school in terms of the kind of people that attend them, but I suppose that is to be expected.  
Humans don’t tend to be kind.   
I sat down, without looking up from my book. _

_Serizawa-kun either thought I was too busy to talk, or simply read the mood and didn’t say anything to me until the end of the lesson, but once it ended the moment I’d been dreading arrived.  
“Hey Akechi-san, are you okay? Your eyes are a little red. Do you have allergies? I have some medicine if you need it. Or you have any allergies?”  
Why is he being so kind to me!?  
Why is he always so nice to someone like me!?  
I’m bad at this kind of thing! If he keeps doing things like that to someone like me… I’ll get the wrong idea.   
I’ll think there is a way for me to stay by his side.   
But there isn’t one, I was never a good fit for him in the first place.  
“I’m sorry Serizawa-kun but, could you… please not talk to me any more… please just leave me alone…”  
I ran out of the classroom as soon as I said that, I didn’t want to see his face after I said that.   
What if he was relieved?  
I guess even if he wasn’t it’s better for me not to know.   
Ah, I’m crying again.   
I changed my shoes at the entrance, and slowly walked to the gate, maybe hoping that Serizawa-kun would chase after me, though what I would do if he did was a mystery even to myself.   
I got my phone out of my bag and in a motion perfected after years of repetition, plugged my headphones into it.   
There’s something just so amazingly comforting about drowning the outside world with music, at a volume a lot higher than what I should probably be exposing myself to.   
I walked home in a trance, shifting between regretting what I did, and being perfectly aware that there was no other way for me to get out of that situation.   
At least I live alone, meaning I don’t have to be bothered by anyone else when I get home, crushing loneliness aside. _

_The next couple of weeks were mostly just me avoiding Serizawa-kun to the best of my ability, which I have to admit isn’t very high, and being harassed by Girls One through Three.  
Every time he found me he’d start asking me what he’d done wrong, he looked very confused, and of course it’s my fault again, which the three girls did not appreciate.   
I wanted to start crying and yell ‘It’s not your fault! I want to talk to you! They just don’t let me!’, but I could already see the situation if I decided to say anything.   
I could see those three standing at the corner, it was as if they were following him wherever he went in order to avoid him talking to some other girl.   
I had to settle with just shaking my head violently whenever he said something that was wrong and then running away every time.   
Plus since they were always behind him, the three girls tended to follow me wherever I went in order to ‘punish’ me for ‘overstepping my bounds’. _

_“Akechi-san, please tell me what I did wrong, I promise I’ll never do it again. I’ll make it up to you, I’ll do anything, please…”  
The sad note to his words hurt me a lot more than it probably should have.   
It’s my fault he isn’t feeling well, I’m the one hurting Serizawa-kun.   
“Serizawa-kun...”  
The way his face lit up when I started talking, I love that face so much it hurts.   
It sucks that it’s me the one taking his smile away.   
“...I think it would be for the best for you to not involve yourself further with me.”  
His smile disappeared, turning back to the face I’d sadly become accustomed to seeing.   
“Why? Akechi-san, I’m not good at this kind of thing, if you don’t tell me what’s wrong I can’t tell!”  
I started crying.   
I don’t tend to cry all that often, I know the last couple of days haven’t been a good example of that statement, but honestly I have no recollection of the last time I cried before all of this began.   
“It’s... not your fault... Serizawa-kun!... It’s mine!”  
I did my best to speak through my tears, having to take the stares of the people still in the classroom, in addition to the hyena-like laughing coming from the three girls in the back corner.   
Serizawa-kun gently touched my face with his hand, wiping my tears.   
His hand was warm, it made me feel so calm.   
Then, like a bolt of lighting a thought invaded my only moment of peace in a long time.   
‘Those three are not going to like this. I need to run away’  
I did.   
As I started running outside of the classroom I crashed into a tall dark-haired guy.   
He looked like he was busy, I probably messed up his concentration.   
I should just disappear, I bet Serizawa-kun would be better off without me, he’d have one less thing to worry about.   
The tall guy was looking at me, probably ready to hit me until I apologised.   
“I… I… I’m sorry, I wasn’t... looking... where I was... going.”  
After hearing my pathetic excuse for an apology, he smiled, as if he could tell I just couldn’t take anything else today.   
To be honest I couldn’t hear what he said through my tears, but the kind and calm tone of his voice told me that I had been forgiven, so I vowed one last time and walked to the arts building’s bathroom, since I knew that the three girls would not find me there.   
I stayed there during the whole break, though I stopped crying fairly early on, since I was worried that someone would hear if I continued.   
As I exited the bathroom I saw what I thought to be my doom.   
Girl two was standing in front of the vending machine next to the bathrooms.   
My whole body tensed.   
She looked at me, she seemed a bit disappointed that she’d seen me, but then she turned towards me and spoke.   
“Listen, I’m sorry for everything Kyouka has done to you. I know that you have no bad intentions, but she tends to be quite intense when she likes someone, despite not being able to confess herself. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is… try not to hate her too much I know what she did to you is unforgivable, I’m not asking you to forgive her, but… you know, try to understand her a bit. She’s my best friend, and I’ll always stand by her side, no matter what she’s doing, but I’m not blind to the fact that it’s not right. And don’t worry, I don’t have anything against you personally, I won’t do anything to you.”  
For a moment I thought she was kidding.   
I’m sure I cannot ever empathise with someone like Girl One (whose name was apparently Kyouka).   
I bowed and started to leave, hoping that she would not change her mind and chase me.   
What she said after surprised me even more than her previous statements though.   
“You should home right after class ends, Kyouka definitely won’t like what happened today.”  
I turned around and bowed, this time sincerely.   
I wonder how they get along when they seem like such different people.  
I walked to class already dreading the fact that I would have to spend the whole rest of the day next to Serizawa-kun without being able to talk to him.   
I got to class before the Serizawa-kun, so I didn’t have to subject myself to ignoring him whilst walking to my seat.   
Almost immediately, as if he was waiting for me to sit down, Serizawa-kun came into the classroom.   
Kyouka and the other two girls said their routine salutations, as if he was some sort of celebrity, and since he is the kindest person in the planet, he kindly responded whilst smiling.   
His smile wilted when he saw me, and rightfully so.   
He definitely hates me now.   
He politely nodded and put the smile back on, as if putting on a mask.   
The rest of the class can only be described as hell.   
Serizawa-kun was staring at me very intently during most of the time, only stopping for a few minutes after catching himself each time, and when he was called to answer a question to the front of the room.   
I could feel my face about to burst because of how much I was blushing.   
Serizawa-kun is probably so angry at me, and all I can think about is that I’m happy he’s looking at me.  
Disgusting. _

_As class ended and I was finally freed I walked at the highest speed I could muster without making it obvious that I was running away.  
Just before I’d made it out of the classroom a strangely familiar tall guy stood in front of me asking me to follow him.   
I didn’t really feel like following someone I’d never met before.   
He laughed for some reason, as if he’d read my mind and knew I didn’t want to follow him.   
“Don’t worry I just want to talk to you.”  
His voice seemed familiar, but I just couldn’t place it.   
He introduced himself as Inami Naoya.  
I nodded, accepting that if he was going to hit me too, at least he’d make it quick so that I could finally go home.   
I think if he told me he was an alien from the future sent to destroy humanity it would’ve thrown me off less than the thing he actually said.   
“Here, this is Saku’s Line.”  
Was he messing with me?   
Was he going to ask me to do something in exchange for it?  
“Don’t worry I’m not gonna try to hurt you or anything. Just don’t contact him until you get a text from me, okay?”  
This guy had to be an esper.   
There is no way he could tell what I was thinking that easily.   
Wait… why did I have to wait for a text from him in order to text him?  
I was very confused, but I was so much more happy, I’d gotten Serizawa-kun’s Line.   
Was it okay for me to text him?  
I wonder if he’d be mad.  
I nodded despite the fact that I was still rather confused at what had taken place.  
When he nodded back signaling that I was free to go, I quickly left, looking back every few steps hoping Kyouka and her friends weren’t behind me. _

_The way home felt incredibly short, as if the universe knew what had just happened and was trying to get me home to wait for the text as soon as possible.  
Once home I decided that I needed a bath, I’d been sweating a lot and the wounds in my legs and arms were stinging because of it.   
I took a pretty long shower, and an even longer bath, as if to calm myself as much as possible before Inami-kun’s text.   
I wonder how long will it be before I get it.   
It might not even be today. _

_After what felt like an eternity of waiting I got a text on my phone the sender wasn’t registered so I knew it was Inami-kun._

_I replied as fast as I possibly could with my phone’s tiny and slightly damaged keyboard._

_As soon as i got the confirmation, I started formulating my message to Serizawa-kun._

_His reply took a while, as if he was wondering whether or not I deserved one.  
I definitely didn’t, but he was kind enough to provide me with one anyway, and it was exactly what I wanted. _

_To be honest I would have liked to talk a little more, but I didn’t want to cause him more inconveniences.  
I wonder what I should wear.   
Whilst being flooded to the kind of thoughts expected of a high school girl in my situation I fell asleep._


End file.
